We all have to study. Everything changes constantly. We have works, responsibilities, families, we all have to seek a healthy life so we have to sleep well, and all of that takes time, and when you are decided to study you will have 2 options:
1 - Smile with an opportunity to grow up not just as a professional but as a human being
2 - Get angry and make dumb decisions
So, because you want the 1st option, how do you study? This question leads to other questions:
1 - How do you decide what to study?
2 - How do you prepare your schedule for studying? (because you will have to move things, cancel others)
3 - How do you prepare your environment to protect you to not get distracted?
4 - What tools do you use for studying?
5 - Whats your methodology for studying?
Top comments (2)
For me personally, my current way of studying is how and where I see myself in the next 2 to 5 years. I'm not chasing for the next big shiny framework as much as I used to in the past even though it's still a big temptation of mine; instead I focus on what kind of developer I want to become and what kind of technology that I want to engross myself in and not just dabble in.
I'm blessed enough that my work-life balance allows me to study new things, without having to stress too much about work performance, so that definitely helps with time allocation. I don't really study during the weekends as that is completely my time to spend with friends and family, or just to break away from the usual weekday routine.
Regarding distraction, it's honestly willpower, there are so many resources that is geared to help you like the Pomodoro technique or anything similar, but ultimately, no matter how many books you read about productivity, it all starts with willpower.
Internet and a physical notebook is my number one tool for studying. Something about writing what I learn in a fresh notebook and see it slowly being filled up with information I'm learning is so satisfying.
In the end, studying should be fun and self-fulfilling. Of course there will be obstacles and some not-so-fun part, but it's always about the journey right? 😄
I think that I learn like how a search engine crawls. Open loads of pages, get inspired and follow all links, indexing all related and unrelated. Then when I find subjects of interest, I'll zoom in and make notes in Evernote and buy books about the topics. Offline studying with a yellow-marker works best.